The NLI is a voluntary program with regard to both institutions and student-athletes. No prospective student-athlete or parent is required to sign the NLI and no institution is required to join the program.
The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution.
A prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year, and the institution agrees to provide athletics’ financial aid for one academic year.
An important provision of the NLI program is a recruiting prohibition is applied after a prospective student-athlete signs the NLI. This requires member institutions to cease recruitment of a prospective student-athlete once an NLI is signed with another institution.